Wonder Woman Vol. 3: The Truth collects Wonder Woman #13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 25. It is written by Greg Rucka with art by Liam Sharp and Laura Martin.
At the end of the first arc in Rucka's run, Wonder Woman discovers that she has never actually returned to Themyscira, causing her to enter a delusional, crippled state. It is also revealed that the Picket has been infiltrated by Godwatch, an organization lead by the villain Rucka created during his original run on the title, Veronica Cale, and Etta Candy is forced to go on the run. Picking up where that story left off, it's now up to Steve Trevor to rescue her from a squad of assassins sent by Godwatch and lead by Marina Maru (Doctor Poison). The first chapter basically sees Steve take down the assassins Rambo style until a helicopter sent by Etta Candy arrives to rescue him and Diana. Wonder Woman is then placed in a mental institution under an alias until she recovers. Meanwhile, Steve, Etta Candy and a newly reformed Barbara Minerva are on the run from Godwatch and go to Diana's old friend, the minotaur (or rather kithotaur) Sebastian (another Rucka creation) for help. Ultimately, Dr. Minerva gives herself up in order to save her friends and is manipulated by Cale to turn into the Cheetah once again.
This is where the book starts to run into problems as one of the more interesting developments of the previous arc, namely the fleshing out of Barabara Ann Minerva and her reverting back to human form, is almost immediately undone. Wonder Woman's "madness" or whatever is also handled badly. Basically she talks to a snake coming out of her arm, one that only she can see, who tells her that she was lied to, which we already now. Then Sebastian comes to visit her, causing her to snap out of it and revert to her normal cognizant self. This makes me question why Rucka kept her in this state for the first three issues.
After Wonder Woman and Steve are again attacked by Maru's assassins, the story ends with Wonder Woman confronting Cale, who is attempting to find Themyscira in order to restore her daughter who, for reasons unexplained, has lost her identity. I won't spoil the final resolution but I think that it fits Diana's character really well and it nicely lines up with the themes set up earlier in the run (with love being stronger than hate). It's also fairly heart-wrenching at times. This is followed by a sort of afterword where Wonder Woman must come to terms with the fact that the gods deceived her. Ultimately she realizes that, despite being left in the dark by her patrons, they have ultimately lead her to become an inspiring and heroic figure and they've trusted her to make the right decisions on her own. This restores Diana's devotion to the Patrons and her own faith in herself. The story ends with Diana and Steve having a long overdue date.
As with the first two volumes of this title,
The Truth suffers from the way it was published. Collecting the odd numbered issues, which tell a story taking place in the present, it leaves out the backstory, which was published in the even numbered issues. This story, which will be released in trade on November 15th, focuses on how Veronica's daughter lost her identity, leading Cale to form Godwatch, something only hinted at in
The Truth. It would really make more sense to read that story first but, alas, that's not how DC has decided to publish it. With that said, it's much easier to read this title in trade than it was to try and keep up with it monthly, with the story constantly alternating between the past and the present.
The art, by Liam Sharp (pencils) and Laura Martin (colors) is once again really good. Sharp is particularly adept at facial expressions and, coupled Martin's subdued colors, he really adds a sense of realistic emotion to the story. The plotting is quite clever with one page from the final chapter making really innovative use of reflections. On the other hand the first chapter is drawn by a different team. Renato Guedes angular pencil work doesn't blend at all with Sharp's more naturalistic style and Romulo Fajordo Jr., who was the colorist for the even numbered issues of the first and second volumes, seems out of his element as his usual bright, vibrant coloring is not suited for this story.
The Truth may be a slow and somewhat frustrating journey, but the final destination is more than satisfying. Readers may be irked that they will have to wait until the release of
Godwatch in November to really get the full story (and they may be better served to wait and read that story first) but this volume of Wonder Woman continues to prove how much Greg Rucka understands this character and her world.
Score: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment